Apparatus foe tbimming wicks



A. R. TURNER.

Wick Trimmer.

No. 31.915. PatentedApriI'Z, 1861 9.5356 .9 In van?! onrrnn STATES rarerorrion.

ALFRED R. TURNER, OF MALDEN, MASSAGHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR TRIMMING- WIGK S.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 31,915, dated April 2, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. R. TURNER, of Malden, in the county of Middlesexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus Used for the Trimming of the icks of Lamps,and that the following description, taken in connection wit-h theaccompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exactspecification of the same, wherein I have set forth the nature andprinciples of my said improvements, by which my invention may bedistinguished from all others of a similar class, together with suchparts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

I11 the burning of lamps especially those intended for kerosene andsperm oils, it is very desirable that an even flame should be produced,which can not be the case, if the wicks of the same are not evenlytrimmed.

Heretofore the wicks have usually been trimmed by hand, that is by .theuse of the common shears, which mode was liable to soil the hands,deface or injure the clothes of the person and never could give thateven ness of finish or trim which is so desirable in the burning of thelamps.

The present invention consists in a novel arrangement of mechanicaldevices to be used for the purpose of trimming the wicks of lamps and bymeans of which the same are always sure to be unerringly and rapidlycut, without being obliged to place the hands in contact with the same.

In the accompanying plate of drawings my improvements are represented asattached to the ordinary kerosene oil lamps and of which Figure 1 is aplan or top view, Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section and Fig. 3 isa central longitudinal vertical section.

a a represent the top portion of the lamps used for the burning ofkerosene oil and made of the usual form.

I) is the wick passing through the wicktube of the lamp.

(Z is a frame susceptible of being placed upon the top end 0 of the tubethe short tube 7 attached to the lower surface of the frame (Z fittingover the outside of the same. In this frame (Z is a knife 9 having abeveled edge or tapering from heel to point and which is secured to asliding carriage h m0ving through a smtable way or passage 2' for thesame. Thls carriageh to which the knife or blade 9 is attached asdescribed, has a rectilinear motion imparted to it by means of thefollowing mechanical devices; viZ.; is a standard of the carriage h inwhich works a horizontal screw is operated by a crank Z upon its outerend and which passes loosely through a standard m-of the frame (Z.

a is a cover turning upon a hinge 0 opening upon the top of the framecZ, of equal usual means employed in kerosene oil lamps,

a suflicient distance for the trimming or cutting of the same by theknife 9 or above the lower horizontal surface of the way 2', is firmlyand securely held by the edge 1 of the lip p and of the cover a, whichwhen the cover is closed presses the top of the wick between the. sameand the edge 1" of the frame (Z and also by means of the screw 8,passing through a bearing a" on the lower surface of the frame (Z, andpressing against the wick in the short tube 7. The knife g being of thetapering form herein described and represented in the drawings,by theturning of the screw 7: working through the standard j of the carriage hof the same, is then made to move in a rectilinear direction, passingover the lower horizontal surface of the way i, which thereby cuts ortrims the wick rapidly and accurately and also imparts to the top of thesame that evenness of trimming which is so desirable in the burning ofkerosene and other oil lamps in order to produce a steady and evenflame. The knife 9 is allowed to move a sufiicient distance to trim orcut the whole width and thickness of the wick and is replaced in properposition for cutting the wick of another lamp by merely reversing themovement of the screw Zr,- and the apparatus can be removed from thelamp after having turned back the screw 8 pressing against the wick.

It will be evident that the knife g and its carriage it may be made tomove in a rectilinear direction or back and forth, by other consistingsubstantially of the knife g atmeans than those described, as forinstance, 4 tached to a traveling carriage which is made it could bepushed forward With the hand to move back and forth in a horizontalplane and a spiral spring being attached to it, While the Wick is firmlyheld by any suitable 1.3 Would necessarily force it back to itsorigholding device during the cutting operation,

inal position. as set forth. 7

Having thus described my improvements, 1 ALFRED R TURNER What I claim asmy invention and desire to i have secured to me by Letters Patent, is lVitnesses:

The organized apparatus herein described JOSEPH GAVETT, 2 for trimmingthe Wicks of lamps, the same A. W. BROWN.

